Various types of orthodontic appliances have been provided for correcting incisor irregularities and for retaining teeth in corrected position for either the lower or upper anterior teeth. Conventional spring retainers are made with acrylic covering the labial bow on the facial surfaces of the teeth and acrylic covering the spring on the lingual surfaces of the teeth. The points where the acrylic touches the teeth are critical wear areas. As the patient removes and inserts the retainer, the surfaces of the teeth can begin to wear the acrylic such that the retainer does not functional as well on subsequent uses. It is noted that the conventional retainer with acrylic covering the labial bow and the lingual spring are also manufactured on a model on which teeth have been reset to the doctor's ideal specifications. Because a small portion of the acrylic is wears each time the patient removes and reinserts the retainer, it is steadily changing from an appliance that is designed to the doctor's ideal arch to an appliance that is slightly off and getting worse every time because the acrylic, which is supposed to determine the final position of the teeth, is wearing down. In addition, because a conventional retainer is made of steel wire, it will require additional adjustment by the doctor in order to maintain vital constant pressure on the teeth.
Because conventional appliances wear and doctors do not have the ability to constantly hand adjust the appliance to an ideal configuration of the original model, improved orthodontic appliances are desired.